South African Airways Flight 228
Wreckage of Flight 228 | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | 20 April 1968 |
| Summary | Controlled flight into terrain due by pilot error, spatial disorientation, and design flaw and GPWS malfunction |
| Site | 5.3 km (3.3 mi) east of Strijdom International Airport, Windhoek, Namibia 22°26′58″S 17°32′02″E / 22.44944°S 17.53389°E |
| Aircraft | |
| A South African Airways Boeing 707-344C, similar to the accident aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Boeing 707-344C |
| Aircraft name | Pretoria |
| Operator | South African Airways |
| IATA flight No. | SA228 |
| ICAO flight No. | SAA228 |
| Call sign | SPRINGBOK 228 |
| Registration | ZS-EUW |
| Flight origin | Jan Smuts Int'l Airport, Johannesburg, South Africa |
| 1st stopover | Strijdom Int'l Airport, Windhoek, Namibia |
| 2nd stopover | Presidente Craveiro Lopes Airport, Luanda, Angola |
| 3rd stopover | Gando Airport, Las Palmas, Canary Islands, Spain |
| 4th stopover | Frankfurt Airport, Frankfurt am Main, West Germany |
| Destination | Heathrow Airport, London, United Kingdom |
| Occupants | 128 |
| Passengers | 116 |
| Crew | 12 |
| Fatalities | 123 |
| Injuries | 5 |
| Survivors | 5 |
South African Airways Flight 228 was a scheduled flight from Johannesburg, South Africa, to London, England. The Boeing 707-300C operating the flight, which was only six weeks old, flew into the ground soon after take-off after a scheduled stopover in Windhoek, South West Africa (present day Namibia) on 20 April 1968. Five passengers survived, while 123 people died. The subsequent investigation determined that the accident was attributable largely to pilot error; the manufacturer subsequently also recognised the lack of a ground proximity warning system in its aircraft. The accident is the deadliest aviation accident to date in Namibia.